We stayed in Chris' flat for 2 weeks. Jing was a very nice host, he's lucky to have her managing his properties. The flat was exactly what we needed - a small city flat with all the comfort we needed. It was modern and well equipped, we really appreciated the washing machine for our nomadic life, water filter to reduce plastic bottles (every property should have a water filter in SE Asia IMHO), a small induction hob & microwave to heat up food and all the small basic things for a comfortable stay. The appliances are all new. We slept with a broken bed rack the first couple of nights, Jing worked really hard to nudge the owner Chris to replace the bed rack and resolved this within 36 hours. We really appreciated them doing that. In terms of the location, this was in the more quiet side of red light district. The gentrified street has many convenient things such as convenient store, bakery, grocery store, a really nice burger (Artisan) joint, pizza and many other international cuisines. We didn't really eat in this side of Sukhumvit very much as we ventured out to other local neighborhoods for Thai eateries and food markets. We liked the other higher # of Sukhumvit area (a 20 mins walk from the flat), there are lots of nice coffee shops, restaurants and a Japanese street with lots of authentic Japanese food. Koreatown also has amazing Korean food nearby. Terminal 21 is only 10 mins walk, you can get many eatery options if not keen to go far. I didn't fancy hanging out in this part of the red light district much due to personal preference - there's a handful of seemingly stereotypical entitled seedy elderly sexpats characters roaming around, you have to walk pass them to get to the metro stations. I didn't feel any danger (I only can vouch for before 10pm), it was very safe to walk around even by myself - heck it's way safer than most urban American cities at day and night. I just didn't like getting stared at by those seedy characters as if you were in a zoo and ready to be preyed (did we time travel back the fifties in the west). I noticed that mostly when I walked by myself to run a few errands in the neighborhood. If you don't mind this, the flat and location offer no issues because the flat and host were perfect. You might even love this if you were in Bangkok for night life! This won't be a shocker for those have spent a lot of time in some other SE cities's central neighborhoods such as in Laos or Cambodia. Well duh me, it's the red light district and it was my bad for not researching this famous Nana area to suit my lifestyle preference.
When I return to BKK next time, I would definitely consider booking with Jing and Chris's property at another neighborhood again. I highly recommend them to other Airbnb guests. Thank you guys again!
Here are some useful non-flat related Tips as my way pay back in the community:
-Get Bolt (thanks for Jing for recommendation) if Grab is too costly, but Grab is still the most reliable. Also, you can download an app we discovered called Muvmi (get a code from Jing to receive a freebie ride), it's a ride share (or own ride) on EV tuk tuk that operates in different zones which includes the Nana/Asoke zone, it's all electric so no petrol smell and no negotiation (all pre-paid and set on the app). It saved us a few times when had trouble calling a car & not near a metro station, they were always reliable and showed up in the pickup points.
-You can also get a free second Covid booster (mRNA shots included) shot from Bang Sue vaccination centre, they give it out to foreigners as long as you have passport and vaccine records.
-Get a prepaid sim card from 7-11, hundred and fifty baht for thirty days unlimited data usage. Phone companies always try to sell you the tourist expensive package first.
Enjoy your time in Bangkok!